In current storage and transportation solutions for wind turbine blades, a complex clamping equipment for storage and transportation is used. Furthermore, up till now, there were developed individual transport and storage equipment for every different wind turbine blade size.
Today, the weight of wind turbine blades during storage and transportation may not be supported evenly in the transport and storage equipment. As a consequence, the load is not evenly distributed to all of the cross slings. When the load of the wind turbine blade is not evenly distributed in the storage and transportation equipment, a risk of damaging the wind turbine blade may occur.
In known wind turbine blade rack systems, the blade may be supported by four cross slings. The load distribution between the four cross slings may be controlled by adjusting the sling lengths via turn buckles and it may be up to the technician to judge when the load is equally distributed. However, this may not be an easy task, since the technician cannot measure the tension in each cross sling. Hence, it may not be ensured a perfectly distributed load.
Furthermore, if the wind turbine blade starts to move due to dynamic loading, the system may not adapt to this new load scenario and the wind turbine blade may be locally overloaded.
Additionally, it may be challenging that each wind turbine blade type has different shapes and sizes, which may require individual equipment being fitted to the exact wind turbine blade geometry.
The repair costs for damages of the wind turbine blades during storage and transportation as well as the costs for handling and adjusting the current storage system add to the total costs of the wind turbine blade.